Isolation and Invitations
by lightning bird
Summary: For once, what Gary wants and what he needs are the same thing.


**Isolation, Impressions, and Invitations**

They were seated in the galley eating breakfast – oatmeal for Gary, a bowl of tuna for Avocato, a crushed ice cream cone for Mooncake – and talking about strange things they'd eaten on purpose (Avocato was winning handily, having visited a lot more planets than Gary), when Carl entered and set a small cup before Gary. The blond glanced at it with something close to hate, then pushed it aside, snapping,

"Not now, Carl."

"Now, Gary," insisted HUE as Carl, his delivery complete, walked off.

"Busy mingling, HUE," was the heated reply. "You know, that thing I haven't been allowed to do in five years? Because isolation sucks and doesn't work? That."

"Gary, you are still a prisoner for the next-"

"Were you programmed to be a complete jerk with lousy timing? Because I really don't need another KVN in my life. Leave me alone and let me get back to trying out-gross my gun-toting cat man compadre."

"Gary, despite the trauma of losing your arm, your overall health has improved dramatically this past week. Since Mooncake and Avocato arrived, I've noticed a sharp uptick in your appetite and activity level, and you've been getting much better sleep. This dose will only speed your recovery more."

Avocato leaned forward and looked into the cup at the half-dozen pills of various colors. Unimpressed, he sat back, picked up his milk with a hint of coffee in it, and casually asked, "Supplements or medication?"

Gary made a face, bracing for judgement. "Both. I get the combo platter."

He nodded, looking thoughtful before asking, "Depression or anxiety?"

"I never limited myself to just one," he replied, fighting the urge to apologize.

"If they help, then take them." Avocato shrugged, supremely nonchalant. "I've known too many people try to tough it out and only manage to make themselves miserable, myself included. If you've got the chance to make yourself better, I say take it. I didn't have that option."

That was not the response he had anticipated. Reluctantly, Gary downed the handful of pills with a long swig of orange juice. Avocato watched with something akin to awe. Gary frowned, expecting unasked-for advice on how to make himself better by some magical self-help means, but it never came. Instead he got the last thing he expected, ever: admiration.

"I can't get over how you can just _drink_ acid." He shook his head. "Earthlings are scary-weird."

His mood shifted as he realized Avocato didn't care that he had issues, that Avocato had some problems of his own. Gary wasn't used to such easy acceptance, not without strings or conditions or buts, but the Ventrexian seemed unfazed. Besides, being scary-weird to a badass bounty hunter was pretty cool. Testing these new waters, he challenged,

"That from a guy that ate hairy spider legs? Acid is tame, my dude."

"You don't eat the hair," defended Avocato.

"But you ate a spider!"

"It was cooked."

"So, what, spider sushi is uncivilized?"

"What's a sushi?"

"Oh, my tuna-noshing brother, you'd love sushi!"

And Gary plunged into describing the wide world of raw fish for his friend. He went on at length and with considerable enthusiasm, culminating in Gary promising Avocato a feast of sushi if and when they made it to earth.

"So why exactly are you a prisoner?" asked Avocato when they had exhausted the topic of food.

Gary grimaced, knowing if he didn't tell the complete truth, HUE would. He petted Mooncake for a bit to rally his nerve and blurted, "I was trying to impress Quinn, the girl I told you about. I, uh, kinda sorta impersonated an Infinity Guard officer and then I accidentally blew up ninety-two battle cruisers and a small restaurant."

Avocato gaped, his razor-sharp incisors on display as he stared. It was a very long moment before he managed to blink and finally sputtered, "Well, did it work?"

"Did what work?"

"Was she impressed?"

Gary gaped right back at him, wrapping his brain around that statement. "What? No! She was totally pissed. She slugged me and knocked me silly."

"Ninety-two cruisers? How many shots did that take?"

"To blow up or knock down?"

"Both!"

"Uh, one."

"One shot? And she wasn't impressed? Those are some impossible standards she's setting, baby."

"Well, it only took her one shot to take _me_ out, and it wasn't the kind of take-me-out I had in mind."

"For that alone, you deserve better." Avocato was chuckling as he rose. "Come on."

"Where to?"

"This ship must have a spot we can work out. Your defensive skills are . . ."

"Amazing? Intimidating? Space-ninja-level?"

"Almost non-existent, but not completely hopeless. I'll teach you some basics."

"Can I practice on KVN?"

"All you want."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

Gary was still recovering from major surgery and an infection, and like a child worn out by a day of non-stop fun, he hit his rack soon after dinner. Mooncake, equally pooped from matching Gary's enthusiasm and chasing after him all day, followed Gary to bed. Avocato took advantage of a few minutes of silence to clean his guns, something he did almost every day whether or not he actually used them. Having recognized this compulsive habit as something of a winding-down ritual for the Ventrexian, HUE waited until Avocato was almost done before quietly interrupting his routine.

"Avocato?"

He didn't look up. Unlike Gary, who felt the need to face the cameras or speakers when addressing the AI, Avocato knew HUE surrounded them at all times. Still polishing his snub-nosed blasters, Avocato replied,

"Yes?"

"Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, but I want to thank you for today."

He paused, finally looking up with a hint of a frown creasing his brow. "Thank me for what?"

"I have been increasingly concerned for Gary's state of health, both mental and physical. Today you gave him the reassurance and confidence boost he needed."

With a faint huff, Avocato resumed his cleaning. "Say it, HUE: I was a friend."

"You were and are. Over the course of the past five years, I've come to look upon Gary Goodspeed with a fondness I've never felt for any prisoner I've looked after before. He uses humor as a shield and keeps his expectations low to avoid disappointment. I believe he has been given very little reassurance in his life, and as far as I can ascertain, since the loss of his father at age seven, he has never been the focus of love and attention for anyone. He has no family, and since you arrived, he has never mentioned having any friends. So, despite a questionable start, you are what he needs most."

Avocato stood and folded the cloths he had been using, saying, "And yet your military court put him in isolation for five years. You gave him almost no means of entertainment or distraction, and you taunt him with cookies. I don't care what he did, what he blew up, whose uniform he stole – no one deserves that. Especially not someone like Gary. And if he wasn't well coming into this, he never should have been here in the first place."

"I cannot disagree with your stance. I can only function as I have been programmed."

"I know," Avocato said, sympathetic to the AI's position. "I know what it's like to have to do what you're ordered. Even when those orders contradict everything you believe in."

HUE was silent for a moment, then said, "And now thank you for your understanding. You have surprised me at every turn, Avocato. I was not exaggerating earlier today when I said Gary's health has improved since you and Mooncake arrived. He has been sleeping the night through, something that hasn't happened in four years."

"He told you himself, HUE, isolation doesn't work."

"No, but then, he's no longer isolated."

"Mmm," he agreed, checking the sights on the weapons.

"And . . ." HUE hesitated, unsure if he was overstepping. From what he'd observed, Avocato was touchy and prone to sidestepping personal matters. Still, HUE had started the conversation and the thought, so he carried on. "Neither are you."

Avocato froze, his mouth tightening into a hard line. For a long moment he just stared down the barrel of his gun and considered what had been said. Finally, he holstered the blasters and he thawed slightly, incapable of denying the obvious.

"Gary's not the only prisoner serving a sentence," Avocato admitted. "Not all jails have walls."

His tail lashed the air in agitation as he left the galley, but HUE was glad to note, the Ventrexian went straight to Gary's room, keeping with the habit he'd established a few days earlier of sleeping on the edge of Gary's bunk. Avocato had done this at first to keep an eye on Gary after his surgery, in order to be there if he was needed. Now he did it because Gary had asked him to. It occurred to HUE as he watched Avocato kick his boots off and set his weapons within easy reach, that perhaps this need was not entirely one-sided.

**OoOoOoOoO**

"Dude, did you actually just put tuna fish into your scrambled eggs?"

"You put those smelly white things in yours."

"Onions, and they're supposed to go into scrambled eggs."

"So is tuna."

"Uh, no. Cheese?"

"The orange stuff? Yes."

"Okay, we agree on that much. Ketchup?"

"Yellow stuff?"

"No, red."

"I'll pass."

"So, what's on the agenda today?"

"More defensive tactics, then I crush you in poker. Have you ever been taught how to draw a gun correctly?"

"There's an incorrect way?"

"Oooookay. Have you shot yourself in the hand yet?"

"Not yet."

"We're gonna keep it that way, then."

Gary chuckled, working his way through his plate of eggs and toast while Mooncake splashed in a bowl of cereal and milk. Today was the first time in ages he had woken up feeling rested and ready to go before the alarm went off or HUE chucking him out of bed (not that HUE would even _think _of trying that with Avocato). This was, in fact, the first time in ages that had been looking forward to the day. The promise of martial arts training with Avocato had him rather ridiculously excited since it was something completely new and involved a lot of attention and hands-on from his friend. He was so pumped, in fact, that when Carl arrived with his daily round of medications, Gary hesitated only slightly. Then he caught Avocato's steady expression.

"Look at it this way, Gary: the better you feel, the more asses you can kick."

He weighed that statement thoughtfully. "Does that include yours?"

"No. That's not happening."

Gary's eyes narrowed at the challenge. "Oh?"

"I invite you to try, though."

He scooped up the pills and downed them with a few swigs of orange juice. Swiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Gary slammed his cup down and grandly promised, "I accept your invitation, Monsieur le Pussycat. And I promise you, sir, that one day I will kick your ass. Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but some day this boot will be connecting with that hairy butt, and it will be glorious."

Avocato was unmoved and unimpressed. "I hope you like disappointment. It's good to have goals, even if they're impossible."

"Not impossible, you're just going to have to wait." Gary's voice dropped to a seductive whisper. "Patience, my dear friend. All in good time. I promise you will get your ass handed to you by me, but not today. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"So . . . the hunter has become the hunted. How does it feel?"

"Confusing."

"You're welcome. My work here is done." As he spoke Gary serenely headed for the anti-gravity tube connecting the decks of the _Galaxy 1_ and gripped the doorway to hold himself in place.

"What?"

"Adieu." Gary waved dramatically, then suddenly he whipped around, shoving himself into weightlessness and calling, "Mooncake! To the rec deck!" before he was whisked upwards, howling, "Thunder Bandit, away!"

With a happy trill, Mooncake zoomed right over Avocato's shoulder to follow him. The Ventrexian stared in open-mouthed bewilderment as Gary's excited whoops echoed down the tube.

"What the hell just happened?" Avocato asked the air.

HUE provided a reply of sorts. "I believe you just met the real, raw Gary."

He sighed, trying hard not to laugh and not entirely successful. "Guess it beats the half-baked Gary." Shaking his head, Avocato dashed a few steps across the galley floor, slid the last two yards, and expertly launched himself through the door with a happy shout of, "Comin' at ya, baby!"

And HUE, who up last week had been increasingly concerned about his charge's state of mind, let go his anxiety as for the first time in five years, genuine laughter sounded through the _Galaxy 1_.


End file.
